On this most ominous of days on the Gregorian calendar, Friday the 13th, the Vanderbilt Commodores Ice Hockey Club will head 441 miles east to open up its season against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks (@CockHockey) and Clemson Tigers (@ClemsonHockey). With three games on the schedule, two versus USC and one versus Clemson, the weekend should prove to be a stout test for the Commodores right out of the gate for the 2013/14 season.

“We barely split with Clemson last year and South Carolina handled us thoroughly, largely on the play of their goalie,” said junior defenseman Greg Kirk who is still sidelined with a foot injury he suffered in April’s I-65 Face-Off. “We’re fired up to play those types of teams though, we want to play games that are competitive.”

Fortunately, the club seems to be maintaining a pretty carefree perspective about the challenge.

“I’m thinking we kick things off with an ‘Old School Goalie Mask Night,'” said goalie Andrew “The Iceman” Keen. “You know, with it being Friday the 13th and all, let’s have a little fun with it.” It’s of course a terrible idea made all the more ill conceived by the fact that Andrew will be the only goalie making the trip (sophomore Riley Macdonald has been sidelined with a concussion and sophomore Bo Korpman will be staying in Nashville to tend to his ROTC responsibilities) but his teammates nevertheless appreciate their goalie keeping things loose.

Young Guns Lead The Way

The upcoming campaign will be marked by a youth movement in the player ranks with 14 new skaters in the lineup.

On the front lines, freshman John Longman (Shaker Heights, Ohio) will look to vie for the title of CSO – “Chief Sniping Officer” – alongside fellow freshmen Ketul Patel (Kendall Park, New Jersey), Stephen Wei (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Calen Leverant (Scottsdale, Arizona), and Tucker Rhodes (Needham, Massachusetts) plus sophomore transfer Matt Neurohr (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).

Rhodes in particular gives new meaning to the expression “young guns” as he’s known to arrive at the rink wearing what one teammate Michael Hite describes as “1980’s Bruce Springsteen-inspired cutoff t-shirts,” a high compliment from the New Jersey native. Rhodes’s confidence should be a big asset for the club heading into the season.

Rookies tasked with securing the defensive zone will be freshmen Andrew Dellapina (Randolph, New Jersey), Nick Honkala (Englewood, Colorado), Ben Gallatin (Acton, Massachusetts), Zach Satin (Potomac, Massachusetts), and Eddie Meyercord (Princeton, New Jersey) along with sophomore transfer Bandar Alsaif (Great Falls, Virginia).

Veterans Providing The Foundation

The team will have a host of veterans returning for 2013/14 to help shepherd the flock of newbies. Senior Jack Delehey, the club’s president, will start the season on the disabled list following surgery to repair a torn meniscus but will look to deliver a spark upon return in October.

Anthony “The Dean” Bilotta, another senior, will split time at center and defense depending on the situation, opponent, and his mood on game day. Bilotta brings a physical style of play to games that the coaches love and count on.

“There are guys that love to hit, and then there’s Anthony,” described Coach Bernstein. “He really loves to hit […] and we’re certainly happy to green-light that passion. It’s a huge asset for the team especially when the boys are down and need a spark.”

The club will count on Junior Danny “Hoagie” Hogue, last year’s team MVP and leading scorer, and sophomore Jack “Fan Club” Gibbons to power the team on the scoreboard. They’ll also be counted on to light up Twitter with the wit and charm that fans of the program have grown to love and appreciate over the past year.

Follow The Team

You can follow all of the weekend’s scores and highlights from the comfort of your home, the basement of a fraternity party, or your floor seats at the Blake Shelton concert by staying tuned to Twitter (@VandyIceHockey) and Facebook. On behalf of the players, coaches, and parents, the club thanks all of its fans for their support heading into the new season. Can’t wait to get things kicked off … ANCHOR DOWN!

Along with the rest of campus, the Vanderbilt hockey club is preparing for the 2013/14 school year with great anticipation. The upcoming campaign will be the club’s 37th since its founding and the sixth since the start of the South Eastern Collegiate Hockey Conference (SECHC).

Heading into the season, the club looks to welcome a sizable rookie class from all across the eastern half of the country. The players who have gotten in touch with the team so far include:

• Bandar Alsaif – Great Falls, VA
• Marc Balistrere – Hopkinsville, KY
• Andrew Dellapina – Randolph, NJ
• Benjamin Gallatin – Dayton, OH
• Rob Harrigan – Amherst, NH
• Nick Honkala – Pittsburgh, PA
• John Longman – Shaker Heights, OH
• Riley Macdonald – Westport, CT
• Alak Mehta – Montville, NJ
• Eddie Meyercord – Princeton, NJ
• Matthew Neurohr – Wexford, PA
• Ketul Patel – Kendall Park, NJ
• Zach Satin – Potomac, MD
• Stephen Wei – Pittsburgh, PA

The club will welcome back a slew of veterans as well headlined by 2012/13 assistant captains Jack Delehey, the club’s president, and David “Sunshine” Crowe. Team MVP Daniel Hogue will be returning for his junior year as will second team All-SECHC defenseman Greg Kirk.

Kirk, who suffered a broken foot in April’s I-65 Face Off versus Alabama, is especially excited to hit the ice. “Honestly, I’ve spent the summer eating really poorly and shuffling from one couch to another. My body could use a little get-up-and-go.”

Rising sophomore Jack Gibbons is also pumped up for the season. “I have a career penalty minute crown to secure,” noted Gibbons, referring to the career statistics that were published earlier this summer. “I mean, if I weren’t hurt last year I’d own that record already with three more years to go. It’s in the bag.” Gibbons also looks forward to scoring a few goals in honor of his adoring public – a.k.a. the “Gibby Fan Club.”

The team will get the season started with a “Rookie Kickoff” on Saturday, August 24th, that will include a team meeting at the Student Recreation Center from 11-11:45am followed by a team lunch from noon to 2pm at Sportsman’s Grill in Hillsboro Village. We’ll be welcoming a special guest from the Nashville hockey community to join us so be sure to drop in if you’re a hockey player and interested in the club. Tryouts will then follow on Monday (8/26 at 8:20pm) and Wednesday (8/28 at 8:00pm), both at Centennial Sportsplex just off of campus.

Download the full 2013/14 kickoff schedule today >>

As always, stay tuned to www.vanderbilthockey.com along with Twitter and Facebook for the latest on the team throughout the season. We appreciate your support and look forward to a great 2013/14 campaign. ANCHOR DOWN!

With a new opponent (Alabama) set to face the Commodores in the 2013 Face Off, the need arose to find a new trophy worthy of the event, programs, and of course the “Cullie” – the trophy at stake between Vanderbilt and Tennessee. (Read more about the history and origins of the Cullie here.) A trophy committee was subsequently assembled to find an artifact representative of the unique nature of the I-65 rivalry.

Looking For The Connection

Following a weeks-long inventory of the University archives in both Nashville and Tuscaloosa to uncover a meaningful hockey-related connection between the two schools, the committee reported back that they had, to quote chairwoman Elizabeth Brooks, “struck platinum-covered gold” in their research.

According to records, a blizzard in the early months of 1908 swept across the Southeast leaving many cities, including Nashville and Tuscaloosa, buried in more than three feet of snow. The result was a weeks-long state of paralysis throughout the region. School was cancelled, roads were closed, and virtually all residents were confined to their homes. Everyone, that is, except a brave few who turned a fairly daunting predicament into their own winter wonderland of commerce and recreation.

In Nashville, a group of Vanderbilt students led by Michigan-native Oliver Jay worked to tamp down the walking trails throughout campus and surrounding city neighborhoods in order to create skating paths people could use to transport themselves and key essentials. The endeavor was part altruism and part business for Jay who, as an avid skater, made a minor fortune shuttling food and medicine throughout the city for local merchants and doctors.

In his recounting of the experience in the 1907/08 Vanderbilt yearbook, Jay recalled his particular fondness for “skating the quad.” He explained that “[those paths] were the most incredible things. Whereas a normal walk from one part of campus to another might take twenty minutes, skating the distance would cut that trek down to a fraction of the time.”

Jay and his classmates also took the opportunity to introduce the campus and city to the great game of ice hockey. Directly in the center of Centennial Park, Jay set about building a skating surface just as he had every winter growing up outside of Detroit. The only problem for the group? Not enough skates and virtually no equipment.

“By some cosmic chance, I happened to tow my goalie equipment with me when I left for school in August,” wrote Jay. “My thought was that we’d play floor hockey and my equipment would give the boys playing a good charge. Of course, here we are in Nashville, Tennessee, with three feet of snow and I’m actually using the gear for its intended purpose. Amazing odds to say the least.” The other players cobbled together football pads and old newspapers that proved to be sufficient for a series of pick-up games that were “a fun diversion for all of us.”

Meanwhile, 250 Miles To The South …

While Nashville was doing its best to dig out of Snowmageddon, in Tuscaloosa another group of midwesterners set about laboring through the storm in much the same way, only with greater fan fare and organization. Led by senior Sterling Holyoke, a Minnesota native and star baseball prospect, a group of students decided it would be a great idea to turn the baseball stadium into an early version of the NHL’s modern day Winter Classic. Holyoke and his classmates took the lead in orchestrating an event that pitted the Harris and Riverside dormitories against one another in a game that drew nearly 1,200 fans.

Harris residents Edward Martindale and Stanton Weissenmack were in charge of building the nets and securing equipment, respectively, while Riverside resident and player Davis Nobel requisitioned uniforms from the University’s rugby team. The only problem? Availability of skates, a challenge that was thankfully overcome when a local cobbler named Denton Ware offered to retrofit knives onto the bottom of old boots.

All totaled, it was a patchwork affair that served to brighten the spirits of the students and community members in attendance. Said Holyoke in his only recorded comment about the experience, “It was like transporting the heart of St. Paul to my other favorite home [at Alabama]. I’ll cherish the memory forever.”

Out Of A Storm, A Trophy Is Born

With the anecdotal nexus and associated folk lore in hand, the trophy committee turned to determining what the trophy itself might be. After much deliberating, the team landed on the idea of turning a whiskey barrel into the prize, both for its gravitas as an artifact as well as its significance to the storm of 1908.

Explained Brooks, “You have to consider the seriousness of the event and the lack of preparedness of the people in both communities. How would they, among other things, avoid freezing to death? For many, the answer was to ration a nip of whiskey here and there, just enough to warm the body amidst the brutally cold weather.”

And so it stands that more than a century later the Vanderbilt and Alabama ice hockey teams will honor those who weathered the storm in both Nashville and Tuscaloosa by playing for the Jay Holyoke Memorial Trophy, otherwise known to the committee as “The Holy.”

“Every great trophy needs a nickname,” said Brooks. “I think the boys will be excited about our work and have a lot of fun battling for the Holy for years to come.”

* Mark your calendars folks, the big game is just about a week away on Friday, April 12th, at Bridgestone Arena. The boys will play following the Nashville Predators tilt versus the Dallas Stars so count on a great double-header at the Arena. (Note that to watch the I-65 you’ll have to have a ticket to the first game as well. For discounted seats visit: http://www.nashvillepredators.com/I65Faceoff.) On behalf of both teams, we appreciate your support leading up to the game and look forward to putting on a great show!